Host Alternative NADH:Ubiquinone Oxidoreductase Serves as a Susceptibility Factor to Promote Pathogenesis of Rhizoctonia solani in Plants

Abstract

Phytopathogens have evolved mechanisms to utilize host genes (commonly known as susceptibility factors) to promote their pathogenesis. Rhizoctonia solani is a highly destructive fungal pathogen of various plants, including rice. We previously reported rice genes that were differentially regulated during R. solani pathogenesis. In this study, we analyzed the role of tomato homologs of two rice genes, isoflavone reductase (IFR) and alternative NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase (NUOR), as potential susceptibility factors for R. solani. Virus-induced gene silencing of NUOR in tomato resulted in compromised susceptibility against R. solani, whereas IFR-silenced plants demonstrated susceptibility similar to that of control plants. NUOR silencing in tomato led to homogenous accumulation of reactive oxygen species (optimum range) upon R. solani infection. In addition, the expression and enzyme activity of some host defense and antioxidant genes was enhanced, whereas H2O2 content, lipid peroxidation, and electrolyte leakage were reduced in NUOR-silenced plants. Similarly, transient silencing of OsNUOR provided tolerance against R. solani infection in rice. Overall, the data presented in this study suggest that NUOR serves as a host susceptibility factor to promote R. solani pathogenesis.

Multiplex CRISPR/Cas9‐mediated metabolic engineering increases soya bean isoflavone content and resistance to soya bean mosaic virus

“…These compounds provide a wide range of functions; for instance, as common constituents of the human diet, they have vital functions in human health, such as reducing the incidence of specific cancers (Budryn et al , ; Malloy et al , ) and improving cardiovascular disease risk markers (Sathyapalan et al , ). Furthermore, they play important roles in plant disease resistance (Cheng et al , ; Graham et al , ; Kant et al , ; Liu et al , ) and as signal molecules for the induction of nod genes (Algar et al , ; Subramanian et al , ). soya bean mosaic virus (SMV) disease is one of the most harmful diseases of soya beans; it seriously harms soya bean yield and reduces soya bean quality (Hill and Whitham, ).…”

Xylella fastidiosa subsp. pauca Strains Fb7 and 9a5c from Citrus Display Differential Behavior, Secretome, and Plant Virulence

“…In addition, the oxidation of ascorbate, performed by the enzyme, provides protection against the rice root-knot nematode [64]. The silencing of the gene encoding an alternative oxidoreductase (NADH: ubiquinone oxidoreductase) interfered with the pathogenesis of Rhizoctonia solani in tomato and rice [65].…”

A novel cross talk of AtRAV1, an ethylene responsive transcription factor with MAP kinases imparts broad spectrum disease resistance in plants

“…DAB staining was used for detection of ROS while trypan blue staining was performed to detect cell death assay in R. solani infected leaves of A. thaliana and tomato leaves (62).…”

“…Further, the MDA, H 2 O 2 content and ion leakage (%) were quantified using the earlier described method (61). Similarly the activities of various antioxidant enzymes (CAT, APX and GR) were estimated using the protocol described in (62).…”